Various stabilizing arrangements for boats are known. Some stabilizing arrangements utilize foam tubes which extend around a portion of the boat. Examples of such structures are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,624 to Lowther and U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,297 to Hansen. Other stabilizing arrangements use inflatable tubes. Examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,878,685 and 6,371,039, both to Hemphill, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,407 to Cummer et al. Rigid, hard-sided aluminum or fiberglass arrangements are also known, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,612 to Gursoy. Various cross-sectional configurations are known for such stabilizing tubes, including circular, D-shaped and rectangular arrangements.
The above arrangements do have disadvantages. In some arrangements, for instance, the tubes are arranged to provide only enough buoyancy to keep the vessel from sinking. Such arrangements are not considered to be true stabilized watercraft. Further, in many arrangements, performance is sacrificed by the particular design/configuration of the buoyancy structure. Still further, some arrangements provide satisfactory stabilization under certain conditions, but not in other conditions.
It would be desirable to have a stabilizing tube/buoyancy device which provides high static stability, as well as consistent high performance and sea-keeping ability, for various hull shapes, including deep-vee hull configurations. It is also desirable that the buoyancy device achieve a maximum static lateral stability for the boat, even when the boat is lightly loaded. It is further desirable that the buoyancy device be arranged to provide safety, stability and performance under a wide variety of sea conditions, in particular to provide buoyancy sufficient to maintain the vessel in an upright position and also allow the main deck of the cockpit to be self-bailing, such that water will evacuate on its own with no mechanical assistance, even under fully swamped conditions.